Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of baicalein combined with baicalin on the proliferation and migration ability of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) CAL-27 cells in vitro. Methods The effects of baicalein, baicalin and their combination on the proliferation of CAL-27 cells were measured by MTT method. The effects of baicalin, baicalin and their combination on the migration of CAL-27 cells were tested by scratch test. Fluorescence experiments were performed to detect the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) epithelial marker E-cadherin and mesenchymal marker N-cadherin. Results The MTT results showed that baicalein and baicalin could inhibit the proliferation of CAL-27 cells. With the increase of the concentration, the inhibition rate gradually increased, while the inhibitory effect of the combined drug group on CAL-27 cells was significantly higher than that of baicalein and baicalin monotherapy group (P=0.045, P=0.001), combined index (CI) <1. Scratch test results show that at 24 hours, the cell healing rates of the combined and monotherapy groups were significantly lower than the control group (P=0.001, P=0.002, P=0.001), and the combination drug group was lower than the single drug group (P=0.003, P=0.002). Immunofluorescence results showed that compared with the control group, in baicalein, baicalin and the combination drug groups, the expression of E-cadherin protein increased while the expression of N-cadherin protein decreased. And the difference in the combination group was more significant than the single drug group. Conclusion Both baicalin and baicalin can inhibit the proliferation and migration of CAL-27 cells, and the combined drug has a stronger ability to inhibit the proliferation and migration of CAL-27 cells than the baicalein and baicalin groups. The inhibition may be related to the reverse expression of EMT.

Key words: oral squamous cell carcinoma, baicalein, baicalin, combination medication, proliferation, migration